The Book of Dreams and Ghosts eBook

that they saw crockery rise by itself into air off
the kitchen table, when Emma was at a neighbouring
farm, Mr. Lea’s. Priscilla also saw crockery
come out of a cupboard, in detachments, and fly between
her and Emma, usually in a slanting direction, while
Emma stood by with her arms folded. Yet Priscilla
was not on good terms with Emma. Unless, then,
Mrs. Hampson and Priscilla fabled, it is difficult
to see how Emma could move objects when she was “standing
at some considerable distance, standing, in fact,
in quite another farm”.

Similar evidence was given and signed by Miss Maddox,
the schoolmistress, and Mr. and Mrs. Lea. On
the other hand Mrs. Hampson and Priscilla believed
that Emma managed the fire-raising herself. The
flames were “very high and white, and the articles
were very little singed”. This occurred
also at Rerrick, in 1696, but Mr. Hughes attributes
it to Emma’s use of paraffin, which does not
apply to the Rerrick case. Paraffin smells a
good deal—­nothing is said about a smell
of paraffin.

Only one thing is certain: Emma was at last
caught in a cheat. This discredits her, but
a man who cheats at cards may hold a good hand
by accident. In the same way, if such wonders
can happen (as so much world-wide evidence declares),
they may have happened at Woods Farm, and Emma,
“in a very nervous state,” may have
feigned then, or rather did feign them later.

The question for the medical faculty is: Does
a decided taste for wilful fire-raising often accompany
exhibitions of dancing furniture and crockery, gratuitously
given by patients of hysterical temperament?
This is quite a normal inquiry. Is there a nervous
malady of which the symptoms are domestic arson, and
amateur leger-de-main? The complaint, if it
exists, is of very old standing and wide prevalence,
including Russia, Scotland, New England, France, Iceland,
Germany, China and Peru.

As a proof of the identity of symptoms in this malady,
we give a Chinese case. The Chinese, as to diabolical
possession, are precisely of the same opinion as the
inspired authors of the Gospels. People are
“possessed,” and, like the woman having
a spirit of divination in the Acts of the Apostles,
make a good thing out of it. Thus Mrs. Ku was
approached by a native Christian. She became
rigid and her demon, speaking through her, acknowledged
the Catholic verity, and said that if Mrs. Ku were
converted he would have to leave. On recovering
her everyday consciousness, Mrs. Ku asked what Tsehwa,
her demon, had said. The Christian told her,
and perhaps she would have deserted her erroneous
courses, but her fellow-villagers implored her to pay
homage to the demon. They were in the habit
of resorting to it for medical advice (as people do
to Mrs. Piper’s demon in the United States),
so Mrs. Ku decided to remain in the business. {232}
The parallel to the case in the Acts is interesting.